Watson wins J&E Hall Gold Medal
17th February 2017
UK: Tom Watson, chief engineer at Daikin Applied and a former ASHRAE president, was named as recipient of the J&E Hall Gold Medal Award at last night’s IoR dinner.
The award, which recognises the most noteworthy practical contributions in the field of refrigeration, was one of a number of awards made at the event attended by more than 300 Institute of Refrigeration members and guests.
In a career spanning nearly 50 years, Watson has been involved with ASHRAE since 1972, serving on a number of technical committees and holding several positions on the ASHRAE board. At Daikin Applied he has overseen new product development for centrifugal compressor technology and holds five patents related to refrigerant, gas and chiller compressors.
He was presented with the J&E Hall International Gold Medal and a cheque for £5,000 by IoR president Steve Gill.
The annual Ted Perry Award for post graduate students was presented to Chris Druce of London South Bank University for his research project into the impact of refrigerant leakage on the performance of systems. His prize includes an engraved tankard, a set of ASHRAE Databooks on CD and a cheque for £500.
The Kenneth Lightfoot Medal for the best evening paper presentation went to Andy Person and Maurice Young for their paper Ammonia leakage, dispersion and risk assessment.
Refrigeration consultant Maurice Young and Star Refrigeration group engineering director Andy Pearson received an engraved medal and a cheque for £500.
This year’s Service Engineers’ Section Lifetime Achievement Award went to two recipients: Grayme Selkirk of Tesco and Martin Ross of J&E Hall
President Steve Gill continued his support and encouragement for young engineers by including Student of the Year Jack Wootton on the top table and introducing the JD Cooling apprentice to propose the toast to the Institute.
